2. "The Year of Magical Thinking," by Joan Didion (Knopf, $23.95). The author's attempts to come to terms with the death of her husband and the grave illness of their only daughter.

3. "Team of Rivals," by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Simon & Schuster, $35). The political genius of Abraham Lincoln, revealed in his relationship with his cabinet, from the author of "No Ordinary Time."

4. "The Truth (With Jokes)," by Al Franken (Dutton, $25.95). A comic attack on the Bush administration from the author of "Lies (and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them)."

5. "The World is Flat," by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27.50). A columnist for The New York Times analyzes 21st-century economics and foreign policy and presents an overview of globalization trends.